Adolphe I, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Adolph Wilhelm August Karl Friedrich of Nassau-Weilburg) (July 24, 1817 – November 17, 1905) was the last Duke of Nassau, and the fourth Grand Duke of Luxembourg.He was a son of Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau (1792 - 1839) and his first wife Charlotte Luise Friederike of Saxe-Altenburg. Adolphe's half-sister, Sophia of Nassau, married King Oscar II of Sweden.Adolph became Duke of Nassau on August 30, 1839, after the death of his father. He supported the Austrian Empire in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. After Austria's defeat, Nassau was annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia.In 1879, Adolphe's niece Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the daughter of another of his half-sisters, married her distant relative King William III of the Netherlands. In 1890, their only daughter Wilhelmina succeeded to the Dutch throne, but was excluded from the succession to Luxembourg by the Salic Law. The Grand Duchy, which had been linked to the Netherlands since 1815, passed to the Dutch royal family's distant relative - the dispossessed Duke Adolphe. The Grand Dukes of Luxembourg are still descendants of Adolphe, although through female lines.On January 31, 1844, Adolph married Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, niece of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. She died less than a year afterwards in childbirth with a stillborn daughter.On April 23, 1851, he remarried Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau (25 December 1833-24 November 1916), a daughter of Friedrich, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. They had five children, of whom only two lived to the age of eighteen and to become prince and princess of Luxembourg.

In 1892, Grand Duke Adolphe conferred the hereditary title Count of Wisborg on his Swedish nephew, Oscar, who had lost his Swedish titles after marrying without his father's approval. Wisborg (also spelt Visborg) was the old castle in the citry of Visby within Prince Oscar's lost Dukedom of Gotland, but the title itself was created in the nobiliy of Luxembourg.

Elizabeth Mikhailovna, Grand Duchess of Russia (Moscow, 26 May 1826 - Wiesbaden, 28 January 1845) was the second child and daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia and Princess Charlotte of Wurttemberg who took the name Elena Pavlovna upon her conversion to the Orthodox faith. Through her father, Elizabeth was a granddaughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia, and a niece of both Russian emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I.Elizabeth, nicknamed "Lili", was born in the Kremlin in Moscow and she was named after her aunt who had died eariler that month, the Empress Elizabeth, wife of Emperor Alexander I and a close friend of Elena Pavlovna. She grew up with her other siblings in the Mikhailovsky Palace in Saint Petersburg. Elizabeth was said to be the prettiest among her sisters, and like her mother, Elena Pavlovna, Elizabeth was graceful in manners and well-educated. By the end of 1843, Adolf, Duke of Nassau was visiting St Petersburg and met Elizabeth for the first time. Adolf's stepmother was Princess Pauline of Wurttemberg, Elizabeth's maternal aunt, and so he was related to the Russians in some way. Adolf and Elizabeth fell in love and they eventually got married in 31 January 1844 in St Petersburg. Elizabeth was 17 years old and Adolf was 26.After the wedding, the couple stayed in Russia for some time until they moved to Germany and took up residence in Castle Biebrich in Wiesbaden. Elizabeth, now Duchess of Nassau, was popular among the people.She and Adolf were happily married and the news that she was already pregnant with their first child brought great happiness to the couple. Unfortunately, their happiness would not last long and after only a year, Elizabeth died giving birth to a daughter, who didn't survive as well. The grief-stricken Adolf ordered the construction of a Russian Orthodox church - the St. Elizabeth's Church in Neroberg Park, Wiesbaden - to house the remains of his beloved wife. The location of the church on the hill was chosen by Adolf himself so that he could always have a view of the church from his residence. Elizabeth's sarcophagus can still be seen today inside the church.

His father, Duke William bullied his family. He even made fun of Duchess Pauline (his second wife) hearing problems. I wondered how is his relationship with the grand duke?

During his years in Nassau, he was initially popular but he turned out to be a conservative and reactionary. I also read he was an old fashioned man, that was why he sided with the Austro-Hungarian empire. I think his people turned out quite hostile to him, since he had to go out ungarded in his uniform to announce that he will grant a constitution to them.

Though I also read he treated Duchess Pauline with respect. He built a palace for her and his half siblings.

CyrilVladisla

05-02-2014 08:52 PM

In 1884, Fischbach Castle was bought from Grand Duke William III (King Willem III of The Netherlands) by Duke Adolphe of Nassau.
Adolphe would become Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890.